OHAKUNE

Ohakune is situated on undulating land immediately
south-west of Mount Ruapehu. The North Island Main Trunk
railway passes 2 miles north-east of the town's business
centre, at Ohakune Junction. From Ohakune Junction a branch
goods railway line connects with Raetihi. Rochfort, on this
line, is the goods railway station serving Ohakune. Raetihi
is 9 miles west of Ohakune, Waiouru is 17 miles south-east by
road. By rail Ohakune is 202 miles north of Wellington, and
224 miles south of Auckland.

The main farming activities of the district are sheep and
cattle raising. There is some market gardening and berry
fruit cultivation. Timber is milled in the 17,000-acre Karioi
State Forest (8 miles south), and native timber is milled in
the district, notably at Horopito (9 miles north). Ohakune is
a servicing and distributing centre. Sawmilling and general
engineering are the only important industrial activities in
the town. It is a base for mountaineering and other outdoor
activities in the south-western part of the nearby Tongariro
National Park.

About the middle of the seventeenth century a Maori
village located at Rangataua, 3 miles south-east, was
attacked and the inhabitants were driven from their homes by
Ngati Raukawa raiders. The raiders threw 75 of the slain
victims into Rangatauanui, the larger of the two lakelets
called Rangataua Lakes (3 miles south-west). The dozen or so
survivors fled to Mangaorongo and established a pa in a
clearing in dense bush on the present site of Ohakune. The
road from Pipiriki to Ohakune was commenced in 1892, and by
1894 it was available for vehicle traffic throughout. By 1896
it was in good summer condition as far as Karioi. Substantial
progress northwards towards Waimarino did not take place
until the middle 1890s. In 1883 Rochfort commenced the first
engineering reconnaissance for the Marton – Te Awamutu
section of the North Island Main Trunk railway, and Ohakune
became a base for his work. The town site later became a
permanent camp for railway and road construction workers. By
March 1908 the railway line had reached Ohakune, and on 3
August the rails were linked on Manganuioteao Viaduct (14
miles north). On 6 November the last spike was ceremoniously
driven by the Prime Minister, J. G. Ward. Settlement of the
town is considered to have commenced in the early 1890s. The
period of railway construction activities was followed
quickly by intensive timber milling. As the forest was
cleared, cattle and sheep were introduced and farming
progressed. Ohakune was constituted a town district in August
1908 and in November 1911 attained borough status.

From the 1966 Encyclopaedia

The Story

Contents

Browse the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand

How to cite this page: . 'OHAKUNE', from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966.Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 23-Apr-09URL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/1966/ohakune